Protoplanetary disks are the birthplaces of planets, but few discoveries have stretched scientific expectations like IRAS ...

Star formation is an intricate process that transforms vast molecular clouds into newborn stars, often accompanied by the formation of circumstellar discs composed of gas and dust. These ...

Leonardo Testi and team investigate the initial conditions for planet formation in this special astronomy focus ...

Every second, more than 3,000 stars are born in the visible universe. Many are surrounded by what astronomers call a protoplanetary disk -- a swirling "pancake" of hot gas and dust from which planets ...

Many newly formed stars are surrounded by what are called protoplanetary disks, swirling masses of warm dust and gas that can constitute the core of a developing solar system. Proof of the existence ...

The paper, published in Nature Astronomy ("The formation of protoplanetary disks through pre-main-sequence Bondi–Hoyle accretion"), reveals that the environment plays a crucial role in determining the ...

Imagine you want to measure the size of a room, but it’s completely dark. If you shout, you can tell if the space you’re in is relatively big or small, depending on how long it takes to hear the echo ...

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ALMA, located in the Chilean Atacama desert, is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA studies the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, ...

This artist’s impression of a planet-forming disk surrounding a young star shows a swirling "pancake" of hot gas and dust from which planets form. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the team ...